1. Overview

This article shows you how to use the various sorting features of a table visualization.

2. Sort on multiple hierarchies

When you use a table visualization to display multiple row hierarchies, the corresponding columns can be formatted as either row header columns or regular columns. By default, row header column cells are shown with a grey background whereas regular column cells use alternating but lighter colors for the background.

2.1. Row header columns

In the case of row header columns, the sorting priority is determined by the left-to-right order of the columns. This is the same as the order of the row hierarchies in the underlying metric set, and the same as the grouping order of the hierarchies.

You will see the Name column is now first again, with the values still sorted in descending order. In the second column, the Color values are also sorted in descending order within each grouping.

2.2. Regular columns

Regular columns can also be reordered by dragging column headers in View mode. This will not affect the order of the row hierarchies in the underlying metric set's ROWS field. However, using the Sort/Filter column menu to sort a regular column will give that column the highest sorting priority and cause the corresponding row hierarchy to be reordered first in the underlying metric set.

As an example, start with the dashboard from the previous example with two hierarchies.

Select the table visualization on the canvas, go to the toolbar, and then click Display As Flat Table.

Even though Descending is already selected, click on it. The second column now has the highest sorting priority and its values are all sorted in descending order regardless of the column position. This is equivalent to reordering the row header columns and changes the order of row hierarchies on the metric set.

3. Sort on multiple measures

Sorting multiple measures is similar to sorting multiple row hierarchies that are displayed as regular columns.

Measure columns can be reordered by dragging column headers as usual. This will not affect the ordering of the measures in the underlying metric set. However, using the Sort/Filter column menu to sort a measure column will give that column the highest sorting priority and cause the corresponding measure to be reordered first in the underlying metric set.

As an example, create the following table using the Name, SafetyStockLevel, and ListPrice columns from [Production].[Product].

Observe that the SafetyStockLevel measure values are all in ascending order and the corresponding column has the highest sorting priority because it was sorted most recently. The ListPrice measure column has the next highest priority and its values are still sorted in descending order but only within rows with the same SafetyStockLevel value.

Note

Unlike hierarchies, changing the measure column order on the Data Analysis Panel will not change the column order in the table. You can change the column order in View mode, or using up and down arrows in the main properties.

4. Sort on a measure and a hierarchy

You can mix and match sorting on hierarchies and measures. When the hierarchy is presented as a regular column (such as in a flat table), the result will be the same as sorting multiple measures. However, the grouping created by sorting multiple hierarchies will be maintained even when sorting by a measure. In such a case, sorting the measure will actually sort the groups by their aggregator (e.g. Totals) and separately sort the values inside each group.

As an example, create the following table using the Color, Name, and Weight columns from [Production].[Product].

By default, the Color and Name columns are sorted in ascending order, while the Weight column does not have sorting applied.

In View mode, change the sort on the Weight column to Ascending. You will see that the groups (the Color column) have been reordered based on their totals, and the rows in each group (the Name column) have been reordered based on their individual values.

Open the Sort dialog for the Weight column again. The dialog indicates which hierarchy column is responsible for how the data is grouped. You can change the hierarchy column responsible for how the data is grouped by displaying the table with row headers and following Section 2.1 or by selecting another hierarchy from the drop-down (in this example, the Name column).

The aggregator in calculated measures (formulas) is None by default. When you sort by a measure without an aggregator, the rows in each group will be sorted but the groups themselves will remain unsorted. You will have to set an aggregator for the sort to also affect the group order.

5. Sort using the context menu

You can apply sorting from the context menu when you right-click on a table cell. This option gives you the flexibility of applying sorting to a subset of rows instead of the entire table. When the column is sorted or filtered, the direction of the sort, and a filter icon will be present in the column header when you move the mouse over it.

As an example, set up a table visualization with a product hierarchy, a date hierarchy, and one measure.

6. Sort with one click

Hierarchy headers also support one-click sorting, which allows users to simply click the header to sort the rows in ascending, descending, or unspecified order. A triangle icon above the header text tells you which direction it is currently sorted. If you do not see the icon, it means the sort direction is unspecified.

To use this option, open the Properties panel for the table and set the Enable One Click Sort property to True.